The Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network Ltd (ICAN) has strongly endorsed the Right to Power report, a landmark national study revealing the severe and often hidden impacts of electricity prepayment systems on First Nations households and communities.
The report — the first of its kind in Australia exposes how prepayment arrangements have left many First Nations households without the same consumer protections, hardship assistance, or disconnection relief that most Australians take for granted. Frequent disconnections are shown to be undermining food security, health, wellbeing, and economic participation in remote communities.
ICAN CEO, Aaron Davis said the report’s findings reflect what ICAN has witnessed for years in Cape York and other remote regions.
“Every day, we see families running out of power and being disconnected because prepayment systems offer little to no safety net,” Mr Davis said. “When the power goes off, people can’t refrigerate food, use medical equipment, or stay cool in extreme heat. This is energy insecurity in its rawest form.”
The Right to Power report highlights that as Australia enters a new era of renewable energy development, First Nations communities, whose consent and participation are essential to the nation’s clean energy future remain at risk of being left behind.
“It’s unacceptable that the very communities central to Australia’s clean energy transition are also those most excluded from fair access to energy,” Mr Davis said. “We need urgent reforms that ensures people everywhere have the same rights to access energy and energy hardship support regardless of where they live or the way they pay.”
Key Recommendations of the Right to Power report include:
- Better reporting and performance monitoring by energy retailers to achieve real reductions in disconnections.
- Clear energy hardship metrics requiring retailers to proactively identify and support customers in financial hardship.
- Removal of barriers for prepayment customers to access rooftop solar, energy efficiency upgrades, and community microgrids.
- Protection measures for people experiencing vulnerability during extreme temperatures and emergency events.
- A national Priority Services Register to coordinate targeted support for vulnerable and prepayment consumers.
- Equal consumer protections for prepayment customers, including the removal of mandated prepayment arrangements.
The report calls for reforms guided by existing frameworks such as the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy and the Closing the Gap targets, ensuring that regulators and retailers work together to create fair and consistent energy experiences for all Australians.
“We fully support the call for a nationally consistent consumer protection framework,” Mr Davis said. “Keeping people connected must be the overarching goal, because without power, every other form of participation and wellbeing is compromised.”
ICAN is urging governments, regulators and the energy industry to adopt the Right to Power recommendations and take immediate steps to reduce disconnections and improve energy inclusion.
“Energy is not a privilege, it’s a right. It’s time policies and protections caught up with that reality,” Mr Davis said.